Remember The Game? Retro Gaming Podcast

Remember The Game #58 - WCW/nWo Revenge

Remember when World Championship Wrestling was the hottest thing on the planet?

In the late '90s, WCW was giving the WWF the fight of their lives. The nWo(s), Goldberg, Sting, DDP, Raven, Bret Hart, Ric Flair; that wrestling company from down south had one of the most ridiculous rosters in the history of the business. Pro wrestling was white hot. If you weren't watching wrestling on TV, you were playing a wrestling video game. And there wasn't a better option than WCW/nWo Revenge. 

The THQ/Nintendo 64 wrestling games are the stuff of legend. I don't know if there's a video game series I've spent more hours of my life with than the four horseman of 64-bit wrestling. WCW World Tour was the first one, and it planted the seeds that would eventually blossom into it's sequel; WCW/nWo Revenge. I wasn't the biggest fan of WCW's TV product (I was a hardcore WWF guy), but I couldn't get enough of their video games. The WWF had video games - War Zone and Attitude specifically - but as much as I tried to like them, they just weren't that good. The graphics tried to look real and didn't, and the controls were a disaster. 

WCW/nWo Revenge was the first "perfect" wrestling game. The graphics were bright, colourful, and a little cartoon-ish (it worked great), and it had the most iconic control scheme of wrestling game history. It didn't have things like individual wrestler's entrance music, create-a-wrestler, or a decent career mode (all things that would be added to the later THQ wrestling games), but it was finally a wrestling game that felt fun to play. Being able to play it with 3 of your friends was mind-blowing. And being able to change each wrestler's name and wardrobe added a surprising level of depth. I remember drafting a roster of wrestlers to go up against my friend Shawn's, we'd assign all of our wrestlers a certain shirt, and battle for HOURS. 

If you hold a conversation about the greatest wrestling game of all-time, the two runaway answers are WWF: No Mercy and SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain (both covered in our archives, FYI!). And while those answers aren't wrong, they wouldn't be options without WCW/nWo Revenge. My favourite memory of World Championship Wrestling isn't anything they did in the ring, it was this video game. 

My buddy Brad returns to the show this week, and man oh man did we have a time talking old wrestling, old wrestling games, and old Nintendo 64. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #57 - The Simpsons Hit & Run

Yep, it's another Simpsons game. At least this is the good one!

The Simpsons: Hit & Run is pretty universally considered the best video game adaption of The Simpsons. Sure, you could make an argument for The Simpsons Game that came out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 or the original arcade game. And they're both pretty solid, too. But at the end of the day, Hit & Run is the GOAT.

 

I won't lie, I haven't played this game in fifteen years. When we started covering Simpons game on the show, this was the one people were looking for. I had to do a little homework this time around and refresh my memory, and it actually turned out to be pretty fun. I'm a MASSIVE old-school Simpsons fan, and I'd forgotten just what an incredible love letter this game is to nerds like me. 

 

They packed an insane amount of Simpsons references and easter eggs into this game. Much like The Stick of Truth did for South Park, Hit & Run finally gave us a chance to explore the cartoon community of Springfield that we've all loved for so many years. Everywhere you go, there's another nod to something from one of the glory seasons of the show. The voice acting is on point and the story is actually pretty entertaining (much better than anything they've put on TV in years). And frankly, even if this game had kept up with the trend of Simpsons games having terrible controls, all the little extras they squeezed in for die-hard fans would have made it a contender for the best Simpsons game ever. 

 

But in addition to being funny, they FINALLY broke The Simpsons/broken control curse! This game is actually fun to play. It isn't perfect, and near the end is gets frustratingly difficult, but it's a good time. It's almost like they "right clicked" a Grand Theft Auto game and "saved as" a Simpsons title. And that's not a bad thing. This game is a good time. Ripping around Springfield causing mayhem is a fucking blast. 

 

It hurts my heart that The Simpsons have had so many awful video games. Growing up a huge fan, I played almost all of them. They were my Mom's default go to games for Christmas presents, and it was pretty rough as a kid. Luckily, the suffering ended in 2003 with the release of The Simpsons: Hit & Run. So good. 

 

My buddy Mark McCue feels the same way! He's back, and we're talking about our favourite Springfield experience on this week's episode. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #56 - Final Fantasy II (IV)

**The sound may be a little off on this week's podcast. I suggest using headphones if you can. Sorry about that!**

I know, I know. It's Final Fantasy IV. The box says II, and the people that know, know. But the people that don't will be like "what the hell is this?". So we're goin' with Final Fantasy II. 

If you're not sure why people call it the fourth FF instead of the second, listen to the episode!

I love this game. As I type this, I noticed an Instagram comment from @burgerfinger that pointed out how often I say games are one of my "absolute favourites", but in this case it's true! This was the first RPG I ever played, and I became absolutely obsessed with it. I've probably finished it 10 times, and I plug it into my top three Final Fantasy titles, along with VI and IX. (The order changes all the time, depending on my mood). 

If you haven't played the game, I'll give you a quick lowdown right now, but this episode is chalk full of meaty spoilers, so you've been warned. The game stars Cecil, a Dark Knight who commands the Kingdom of Baron's Red Wings (airships). He is being ordered to do terrible things, and when he questions his King's motives, he gets in trouble and all hell breaks loose and you end up helping him and his friends save the world. It's fantastic. 

This game gets overlooked because it's always in it's SNES brother's shadow, but Final Fantasy II deserves a ton of credit. It introduced a more complex story than we'd ever seen, ushered in the Active Time Battle system we all know and love, and on a personal note, it showed me how great RPGs are. Anyone that has played this game knows how special it is. Aside from Super Mario World, there isn't a video game from my childhood I have more nostalgia and appreciation for. It legitimately shaped me as a gamer. 

And it has Edge the ninja in it, and Edge is the fucking coolest. 

My guests this week are two of my oldest childhood friends, Dan and Rob. Rob actually introduced me to Final Fantasy II 25+ years ago, so this was a really special episode for me. Getting to talk about one of my most beloved retro games with the guys I grew up playing it with was a real treat for me. I hope you guys enjoy this episode!

Remember The Game #55 - Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Look at me, being all topical and professional and stuff. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 comes out this Friday, so I thought it would be a perfect time to dedicate an episode to one of my favourite games of the last couple generations; the original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. 

This game was a follow-up to the two (kick-ass) X-Men Legends games. Taking the initial formula and expanding on it to include characters from all walks of Marvel life, as opposed to just Professor X's team of misfits (and The Brotherhood, Legends 2 SPOILER!), Ultimate Alliance gave the player the opportunity to build a team of their favourite Marvel superheroes, and just run around beating up bad guys for fifteen hours. It was perfect!

Obviously, the main hook to the game is the roster. Being able to build a team of four heroes from the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Elektra, Thing, blah blah blah, was awesome. Being able to switch your team out regularly added a ton of replay to the game, and kept it from getting stale. The combat stayed fresh and fun thanks in large part to the fact that each of the heroes felt and controlled unique. Wolverine was an absolute button mashing tank, whereas Iron Man was better served staying in the sky blasting away at enemies from a distance. Anytime you'd start getting bored, you could just pick a different group of heroes and freshen the (admittedly somewhat repetitive) combat up.

Another giant hook to these games is the multi-player. Being able to run through levels with up to 3 of your buds was awesome. I have great memories of playing this game (and it's sequel) with my nephew for hours at a time. Single player did the job just fine, but it was definitely better with friends. 

These games also contain RPG elements. As you use heroes, you'd gain experience points that you could use to level up their specific abilities as you saw fit. I loved pumping all of Iron Man's XP into his various lasers and weapons, and he really did feel stronger as the game went on. I think the game could have survived without this aspect, but it wouldn't be nearly as beloved as it is today without giving players the ability to "tinker under the hood" of their favourite Marvel characters with such detail. 

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love me some Ultimate Alliance. So does my buddy Tyler. We'll tell you all about it on this week's episode of the show. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #54 - NHL '94

As much as it pains the loyal, completely biased Nintendo fanboy in me to admit, Sega had better sports games than Nintendo. Case in point? NHL '94. 

That isn't to say the SNES version is unplayable, but anyone that has tried both would be lying if they said the Nintendo version was superior to the Genesis one. I didn't really play either, at least not when they came out. I was an NHL Stanley Cup kid (sad trombone). I got into the series around NHL '96, but I've had many opportunities to go back and play NHL '94, on the Genesis and my beloved SNES. And while my nostalgia heart lays with the '96 and '97 iterations of EA's NHL video game, it's pretty damned obvious why NHL '94 still shows up on lists of the greatest sports games ever made over twenty-five years after it was released. It's that damned good. 

The NHL video games have evolved (?) into a very deep, simulation style franchise over the years. Much like EA's other flagship sports titles (Madden and FIFA), their yearly hockey game contains everything a die-hard hockey fan/armchair GM could ever want. You can manage a franchise for decades, stock your farm systems with can't miss prospects, and manage your salary cap season after season. NHL '94 doesn't have any of that stuff. It doesn't even have a season mode. But what it lacks in bells and whistles, it makes up for in unmatched, incredible, addictive, FUN gameplay. 

If you own a current NHL game and try to play against someone that's never played before, it won't be fun. It'll take them a few games just to figure out how to shoot the puck properly. NHL '94 is like a jacked up version of Ice Hockey on the NES; anybody can pick up a controller and have the controls locked down in minutes. The physics engine is great, it really feels like your skating on ice. And this game introduces the one timer. It might seem laughable now, but this was a HUGE deal back then!!!

Two and a half decades after it's release, NHL '94 is still one of the most beloved sports video games of all-time. Tournaments still get held regularly, and it has a loyal fanbase. So much so, that on it's 20th anniversary, EA added an "NHL '94" mode to NHL '14. It constantly shows up on "greatest games  in history" lists, and Jeremy Roenick has said on numerous occasions that he's more well known for his NHL '94 counterpart than he is for anything else he accomplished in his career. This game is the Wayne Gretzky of hockey video games. (Which is ironic, considering there are a bunch of Wayne Gretzky branded hockey games throughout history, and they all suck). 

My buddy Brad makes his podcast debut this week. We're both gamers and huge sports nerds, and we had a hell of a time talking NHL '94. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #53 - Maximum Carnage

Spider-Man is awesome. Venom is even more awesome. Carnage isn't quite as awesome as either of them, but he's still pretty awesome. So what happens when you take all that awesome and squeeze it into a video game? You get a freaking awesome video game. 

Worst. Intro. Ever.

 

It's true, though. Maximum Carnage is awesome. It certainly isn't perfect, but it scratches all the basic video game itches. It handles pretty well, it looks sweet, and it's fun to play. The music is really good,  and thanks to the source material it's based on, it has a solid (albeit somewhat confusing if you don't know anything about the original comic books) story. 

 

The quick version is as follows: Spider-Man (Peter Parker) came into contact with an alien symbiote in space. He was able to wear it as a new costume, but eventually found it was taking over his brain and actions, so he got rid of it. The discarded alien found a new host in Eddie Brock (who already hated Peter Parker), and combined with him to form Venom. Eddie Brock eventually found himself separated from the suit and in jail, sharing a cell with serial killer Cletus Kasady. The symbiote came to the jail to help Eddie escape, but left it's offspring behind. That new symbiote bonded with Kasady to form the super villain Carnage. Spider-Man and Venom put their differences aside and defeat him, but eventually Carnage breaks out of jail again, and forms a stable of villains to wreak havoc with. 

 

*Deep breath*

 

That's where the game picks up. You control Spider-Man and Venom (separately), and the object of the game is to take down Carnage and friends. Having to control the two heroes individually is my biggest gripe with the game. Multi-player seemed like a no brainer. This game is a fun, VERY DIFFICULT beat 'em up, and that genre screams "couch co-op". Particularly when the entire game is centred around an alliance between two characters. 

 

As disappointing as the lack of a second player is, it doesn't break the game. Maximum Carnage is still fun to play, and you'll enjoy yourself until you inevitably lose too many times and get frustrated. This game is hard as fuck. But like most games of that era, a lot of repetition and practice makes it tolerable. The great graphics and music help with that, too. 

 

This isn't the best beat 'em up of all-time, or even just of it's era (you can pry that title from Turtles In Time's cold, dead hands), but it's still sweet. That distinctive red cartridge helps it stick out, and it seems like even casual Marvel fans know these characters and the story involved. My buddy Tyler does, and so do I. We'll tell you all about it this week. Have a listen!

Remember The Game #52 - Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros 2 is the oddball of the NES Mario Bros games. Along with Super Mario Sunshine, it's the oddball of the entire Super Mario series. But you know what? I like oddballs.*

 

*I rewrote that about ten times, and that was the least creepy sounding thing I could come up with...

 

I like Super Mario Bros 2. A lot. I owned Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 as a kid, but never got my hands on the second one. So any chance I had to play it, I jumped all over it. I couldn't wrap my little mind around it! You could pick up bad guys and throw them at each other! (Before picking up Koopa Troopa shells, this was crazy). There were weird potions that took you into an alternate universe, and that's the only place you could find mushrooms. Stars floated up from the bottom of the screen. You could play as Princess Toadstool (old school) and Toad!?!? Where'd this game come from????

 

As we would all later find out, it came from Japan. Because they decided that the kids over in North America that played Nintendo weren't good enough to play the game they originally wanted to release as Super Mario Bros 2. And after playing that original sequel (released everywhere as The Lost Levels years later), there were right. 

 

But this episode isn't about the sequel we didn't get (there's already an episode of the show about that game, The Lost Levels - Episode 26 if you're interested!), it's about the one we did. Super Mario Bros 2 is a beauty of a game. It introduced gameplay mechanics to the Mario Bros series that still exist today, like Birdo, Shy Guys, and the Princess's floating ability. It's still as fun to play in 2019 as it was in 1988, and it's about damned time it got it's own episode of the podcast. 

 

My buddy/fellow comedian/improv king David Rae is my guest this week, and we have a great chat about the Cousin Oliver of the Super Mario Bros series; Super Mario Bros 2. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #51 - Shining Force

One of my favourite things about doing this podcast is that I'm discovering new retro games all these years later. Particularly when it comes to Sega. You're going to see more Genesis love in year 2 of this show, and it starts with today's game; Shining Force. 

**On that note, if you haven't played a game that's covered on the show, I encourage you to give the episode a listen, anyways. Maybe it'll peak your interest and help you discover a new game to play as well! (And please let me know if that ends up being the case!)**

 

Shining Force is rad. I just recently played through it on my friend Miklos's suggestion, and I loved it. It's a great tactical RPG (imagine an RPG board game). You and the computer move your characters around on a grid style map, taking turns attacking each other. Most maps have various landscapes throughout their tiles, and they can provide offensive and defensive strategies. It's like playing RPG chess in a way. And Shining Force is one of the grandfather's of the genre. I think I described it as the Dragon Warrior of tactical RPGs. For better and for worse. 

 

While the gameplay itself is fun, and it contains many of the elements that have caused me to completely fall in love with the tactical genre (strategy, levelling up characters, and a stiff challenge) it has a lot of faults, too. Clearly, this was a learning process for the developers, and some of the mechanics are ancient and frustrating to work through. Menu navigation is a nightmare. So is inventory management. It's just clunky and boring. Luckily, that makes up just a small portion of your experience with Shining Force. I found myself gritting my teeth and slogging through the standard "village between battles restock" that comes with most RPGS, because I knew another fun battle map was waiting on the other side. 

Tactical RPGs have become one of my favourite styles of video game, and it was really cool playing what some consider the Super Mario Bros of the genre. It has it's warts, but nothing that ruins the experience. My buddy Miklos came through with a killer recommendation by suggesting I give Shining Force a shot, and he joins me on the show this week to talk about why it's so awesome. Enjoy!

Remember The Game #50 - Super Mario 64

I can't believe we've made fifty episodes of this train wreck of a podcast! And speaking of train wrecks, today we're talking Super Mario 64! (Just kidding!)

Kind of. 

 

I won't lie to you, loyal reader/listener/fellow nerd. The core Mario series is my favourite in all of gaming. But the first foray into the world of 3D just didn't grab me. I remember getting this game as a kid, and yeah, I played the hell out of it. But it never took over my life like it's two dimensional brethren did. I was way more into Mario Kart 64, which we got at the same time. I struggled with the camera, the controller, and just didn't enjoy it as much as I did Mario's other adventures. 

 

Having said that, I came into this podcast ready to rip Mario 64 a new ass. And I just couldn't do it. I think that's a true testament to the genius of this game and just how groundbreaking it was. I wanted to spend an hour trashing it, and every time I tried I found myself bringing up something it did right. Watching clips of the game in preparation for this episode, I was mesmerized by the music and the world Nintendo created for the launch of the Nintendo 64. It's truly a masterpiece. I want to hate it, I think I hate it, I'll tell you I hate it. But....I don't.

 

Super Mario 64 is one of the most important video games of all-time. I thought it would make a perfect topic of conversation for the 50th episode of "Remember the Game?", and I brought my buddy Mark McCue with me. 

 

Thank you so much for listening to the show. Whether you've listened to all 50 episodes, cherry picked the ones about games you know, or this is your very first one, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. 

Remember The Game #49 - Ice Hockey

In a world where sports video games have become deep, complex, virtual simulations of their real-life counterparts, Ice Hockey still stands out. It's the epitome of the saying "Less is More". Sure, if you're looking for a hockey game where you can develop rosters, play 100+ hours of a franchise, and manage my salary cap, there are better options. But if you just want to play a quick game of hockey against a friend, and have a really good time doing it, it's still hard to beat Ice Hockey. 

 

It's not a very deep game. You play against either the computer or a friend in a single game, and that's it. No seasons or tournaments. You get to pick from one of six national teams, and then you make up your four man roster. You can pick between skinny players (fast but wimpy), medium players (meh), and heavy/fat players (slow but powerful), and you can mix and match to create any combination of four that you want. And within that lies the genius of Ice Hockey. Do you roll with a team of four skinny players, skate circles around your opponent, but get knocked off the puck every time somebody sneezes? Or do you load up on heavyweights and just hope the other team skates into one of your guys? It might not be as deep as navigating the AHL looking for a fourth line winger, but it works perfectly. The combinations are practically endless. 

 

I guess technically there's 256 combinations. But whatever.

 

The gameplay is insanely simplistic and easy to pick up. Steer your highlighted player with the D-pad. "A" passes or steals, and "B" shoots or changes players. The D-pad controls your goalie at the same time, which is also really fun. I'd argue that controlling the goalie in Ice Hockey is as fun as controlling the goalie in any hockey game ever made. And that's it. Most of the basic rules from hockey are here, and you just try to score more goals than your opponent. There's no load times, no rosters updates, it's just simple, arcade hockey. And it's awesome. 

 

Most people compare Ice Hockey to it's NES counterpart Blades of Steel. I knew a ton of people that owned one, but I don't think I knew anybody that owned both. I preferred Blades of Steel as a kid, but I think Ice Hockey has held up infinitely better over the years. It recently released on the Nintendo Switch as part of their NES Online service, and I can confirm it's as fun to pick up and play today as it was over thirty years ago. It's not perfect; and it certainly isn't worth paying anymore than a few bucks for these days. But for my money, it's the Ric Flair of Nintendo sports games. One of the all-time greats, and I love it. 

 

My buddy David Rae does too. He's my guest this week, and we had a ton of laughs talking Ice Hockey. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as we did!